BRONX – The Yeshiva University men's volleyball team had a strong comeback effort but fell short to Lehman College in non-conference play, 3-1, at APEX Main Gym on Thursday evening. Set scores were 25-19, 25-14, 25-27, and 25-20.

Leading the way for the Maccabees (3-6) was senior outside hitter Amitai Kolom who produced a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs, while producing two blocks. Classmate Benjamin Smillie had a strong match with seven kills and 13 digs, while graduate libero Avi Braun anchored the defense with 15 digs and added an assist on the offensive side. Freshman setter Eli Waxman produced 20 assists, seven digs, and a pair of service aces. Senior outside hitter Shmuel Aberman generated three kills, eight digs, a block, and an ace.

In the opening set, Yeshiva had an early 5-3 lead, but Lehman (7-5) countered with six straight points to go up by four. YU got back on track as a kill by Kolom capped off three unanswered points to shrink the Macs' disadvantage to 9-8. The Lightning turned it around by going on a 5-0 run to inflate their lead to 14-8. The Maccabees would chip away at the deficit as a kill by Aberman shrunk Lehman's benefit to 17-15. After each team scored three points, the Lightning finished the set with a 5-1 run to claim the first game, 25-19.

YU had a brief early lead in the second stanza, but Lehman went on a 16-6 run to take a commanding lead it would not surrender for the remainder of the stanza. The Lightning went on to win the second game, 25-14, to put Yeshiva on the brink.

Yeshiva got off to a great start in the third set as a kill by Smillie gave the Blue and White a 12-10 benefit. The Lightning responded with five straight points to take a three-point lead. The Macs fell behind, 22-17, but began to chip away as a kill and service ace by senior middle blocker Eliezer Benjamin cut YU's deficit to three. After Lehman scored the next point, a kill by both rookie middle blocker Lavi Friedman and Smillie, plus a service ace from Waxman, highlighted five straight points for the Maccabees to give them a set-point opportunity at 24-23. Senior outside hitter Andrew Figueroa kept Lehman alive with a kill to tie it up. Kolom countered with a kill of his own to give the Macs another chance with set point, but Figueroa responded with another successful attack. Fortunately for the Maccabees, a kill by Kolom and an attack error by the Lightning earned Yeshiva the come-for-behind victory in set three and sliced the opposition's lead in the match to 2-1.

In the fourth game, a kill by Smillie gave the Macs a 4-2 advantage. After Lehman scored three straight points to jump ahead, Yeshiva countered with a 6-1 run, capped off by a kill courtesy of Kolom, to put the Macs in front by a score of 10-6. Each team went on 3-0 runs to make the score 13-9 in favor of Yeshiva. The Lightning then went on a 7-2 run to jump out to a 16-15 benefit. Yeshiva retaliated as a kill by both Benjamin and Kolom put YU in front, 18-16. From that point on, Lehman took over and finished strong as the home team scored nine of the match's final 11 points to secure the game, 25-20, and its seventh victory of the season, 3-1.

For the Maccabees, Benjamin produced four kills, three service aces, three blocks, two digs, and an assist. Friedman generated three kills, five digs, and a trio of blocks. Graduate right side hitter Michael Stark added two digs of his own. Junior middle blocker Jonathan Werta and sophomore setter Eidan Horn each added an assist, while junior right side hitter Eitan Cillo chipped in with a dig.

For the Lightning, sophomore outside hitter Ray Rodriguez had a double-double with 19 kills and 12 digs, including an attack percentage of .459, while adding three service aces and just as many assists. Senior setter Christian Agudo also had a double-double with 38 assists and 14 digs, while adding five kills and two service aces.

Yeshiva will host a Skyline Tri-Match at Max Stern Athletic Center on Sunday. YU will battle New Jersey City University at 10:00 a.m. and then take on the defending Skyline Conference Champions, St. Joseph's University Long Island, at 2:00 p.m.